Always Checking You Out
by ParamoreXO
Summary: She always felt like she was buying enough food for an entire family rather than a mere Speedster. Lest somebody get the wrong idea…


"You two must have a lot of mouths to feed back at home."

The fingers curled around the supple leather of his wallet seized in surprise, bleaching his knuckles bloodless with the tension. His wide, emerald eyes swiped through the leaden weight of awkward silence in the air towards his girlfriend. Immediately, he noticed her slackened stature. Her bored habit of wringing her hands together in the pouch of his hoodie had slumped against the fabric, causing the wide neckline to offer a peep at her cleavage, the uneven drawstrings adding to her haphazard look. Blinking dumbly at the woman who had checked out their groceries, an amount admittedly abundant for a simple couple, her gaze rolled over towards Wally. Pure, ashen colored astonishment greeted him through her smoky fringe of lashes. There was something else, however. Maybe it was the harsh florescent lighting, or maybe it was the way her eyelids drooped upon looking up at him. He knew her better than that, though, and, beneath the initial shock that overwhelmed the grey pigment of her eyes, he spotted a calculating gleam. It was as if she was searching his reaction to the woman's implied prospect for something very, _very_ specific.

Somehow, that single _look _caused his belly to flood with warmth, heart rate quickening as a sudden desire for muscular release consumed his senses.

A slight cough, the gravely clearing of her throat, slipped passed her lips as she distractedly tugged her dipping neckline upwards, averting her eyes from him completely. All at once, Wally became hyperaware of the random chorus of bleeping from nearby registers, the rickety shrieks of tarnishing shopping carts, the incessant whining of the toddler hanging off of the customer in line behind them, the blaring expectancy of the grocery clerk, …the rosy hue springing to Artemis's cheeks, and the brilliance it did to her complexion.

"Uhh," desperately trying to prevent the blush from further crawling up his neck, Wally eased into his suave charm, lazily slinging an arm around Artemis's tense shoulders as he pocketed his billfold. Entertaining the elderly worker's amused expression with a grin that bunched his splash of freckles together, he gently pulled Artemis to his side, "Only on party nights, ma'am."

Eyebrows knitting in obvious disappointment, doubt etched into her liver spotted visage. Sighing, she handed him the receipt with a melancholy bit of a smile. "Enjoy your night, kids."

Strolling out in silence, Artemis fishes out the car keys as Wally pushes the cart behind her. Right as he steered the shopping cart towards the trunk of their car, Artemis spun him by the shoulder and shoved him until his the backs of his knees buckled against the bumper. Gripping the handlebar of the cart, she gave a forceful push that sent the wheels riding over his feet.

"Ow! Artemis," he seethed through clenched teeth, "_What the hell?"_

"That's for your ridiculous metabolism, Kid Bottomless Pit!" Letting go of the handlebar, her fingers curled into fists that stiffly swung by her sides as she made her way towards the passenger side door.

After querulously storing the groceries away, Wally rounded around the car on his throbbing foot, slamming the door of their used car once seated inside. He ignored her skeptic glance as he twisted the ignition on, the sticky, vented heat blasting through the autumn chill as the engine hummed to life. Crossing her arms, Artemis stared blankly ahead, knowing that Wally wasn't about to shift the gear into drive. "Is your foot okay?"

"Of course, 's fine."

"Then drive."

"Let me ask you something first." Angling his face towards hers, he reached up to skim a finger under her chin, lightly encouraging her to look his way. After a moment's pause, she complied with a single brow raised in her own question. Gazes collided, the intense impact nearly causing his throat to be swollen with words.

"Okay, what is it?"

The low, velvety lull of his voice surprised her. "What was that look you gave me? Back there, at the check out?"

"What look?"

"C'mon, you know what that lady was implying."

"You're right, I do. So what are _you _implying?"

With his hold still on her chin, he leads her into a tender kiss that she gradually tries to take control of. Hot mouths moving against each other, the friction becomes unbearable with passion. She's suddenly fisting the open collar of his jacket in an attempt to pull him deeper into her, a stifled moan causing her lips to buzz against his. When they finally come up for air, the windows are wearing a light film of fog.

"Someday," He begins after satisfying his lungs, "I want us to be more than this, Artemis."

Reclining back into her seat, she smiles at the thought while trying to pull her loosened ponytail back through the elastic. "Someday… We're still in college, Wally. I can't just not let you use a condom next time all because your paternal instincts decide to kick in. Not until I know we're ready for that."

"Jeez, you don't have to be so blunt about it!"

Chuckling lightly, she burrows her hands back into the pouch of Wally's hoodie, not bothering to tuck away the remaining strands of hair that hung in her face. "But do you agree? That we have to be ready?"

"Yeah, babe. All the way." And it was true. Back at their apartment, through their bedroom and tucked away in his bedside dresser beneath a strewn pile of gag gift Flash boxers, a small velvet box nestled the greatest promise of all. It was only a matter of time before he literally had it wrapped around her finger. He was more prepared than she thought.


End file.
